Odometer-resetting device



Sept. 21v 1926. 1,600,319 A. L. COX

ODOIETER RESETTING DEVICE Filed Oct. 27, 1925 to provide a simple andPatented 21,1926.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

4 ALBERT LYIAN COX, 0E RALEIGH, N 03TH CAROLINA.

' ononnrna-nasnrrmc nevica.

Application led October 27, 1925.' Serial No. 65,821.

This invention relates to improvements 1n odometers and especiall tothose forns of odometers now general y in use in connection with thespeedometers o f motor driven vehicles whereupon the mileage of theequipped vehicle is registered, to a predetermined int, by the so-termedtrip meter, the invention having for an object eicient means whereby thenumeral carrying wheels of said trip meter can be automatically returnedto their respective initial starting or zero kmileage indicatingpositions, by the operation of a single control or resetting device. r

It is also an equally important object of the invention to provide .theodometerl or` trip meter with means collectively operable fordisconnecting the numeral carrying wheels from the therefor, andinuencing the same in a manner as to effect their immediate returnrotation to an initial or zero indicating point, vat which time theconnectionof the trip meter with the common driving means will beautomatically re-established and the device, thusrendered ready foranother trip mileage l registering o eration.

Another object of t e invention is to provide the numeral carryingwheels of the trip meter with ,a magnetic means which with disconnectionof the' said wheels from the driving means therefor, may be energizedandr caused to function with res ect to' the wheels toreturn the ysameto t eir initial positions following which, such magnetic means arede-energized and the wheels` then left free. to be rotated byre-established connection with the drivin means therefor.

Yet anotherobject 01g the invention may -be stated to provide thenumeral carrying ywheels with novel forms of armatures adapted to 'beinfluenced by the' magnetic resetting means for ybringing labout resetlting of the same to zero indicating positions, these armaturesbeing soconstructed as .to positively prevent the wheels from assuming positionswhereat they will have the force of the magnetic flux of lthe magneticresetting means equally' applied to the opposite portions thereo, andthus result` 1n theiry retention in sai positions, which ymay be a tlydescribed as dead center positions, ut to the contrary, at all times andpositions, will have a magnetic force of greater intensity applied tocommon driving means` such wheels,

one side of their respective armatures, and accordingly', will readilyrespond to those rotative orces` directed thereto in order that they maypositions.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in partpointed lout herelnafter.

In order that the invention and its mode of usage may be yfullyunderstood by workers skilled in, the art, I have', in the accompanyingillustrative drawings and -in the detailed following descri tion basedthereon, set out one possible em odiment of the same.

- In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of alspeed ometer equipped with theinvention,

Figure 2 is a top view of the same,

Figure 3 is a detail in front elevation of the odometer mechanism or thetrip meter equipped with the invention,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail partly in longitudinalsection of the be returned to zero indicating odometer or trip mechanismshowing the arrangemento the `armatures within the numeral carryingwheels and the connection of these wheels to the selective drivingmeanstherefor, such driving means being connected to the numeral carryingwheels,

Figure 5 is a similar View, the wheels having been shifted to positionsdisengaging the driving means therefor in order that they may be rotatedto their initial or zero indicating positions,

Figure 6 is a detail in perspective of one of the numeral carryingwheels, provided withl its particular armature, p

Figure 7 is a fragmentary detail in perspective showing the relationofan armature of one ofthe numeral carrying wheels to the electrom'agnet,v

Figure 8 isan end elevation of a numeral carrying wheel with thearmature arran therein illustrating said numeral carrying wheel in zeroindicating or initial position `where the widened or thickened portionof Y the armature is positioned directly adjacent to the magnet, and

'Figure 9 is a plan view. of one of the,

armature blanks, that is, vbefore bendingof the same 'into semi-circularshape for eny gagement in a numeral carrying wheel.

Having more particularr reference to thev drawings -in 'connection withwhich like charactersv` of reference will designate corre-y dows 2, 3and 4, through which the speed orted of the vehicle will be indicated,Ithe total milea e traversed by the vehicle will be registere andthemileage, to a predetermined oint, of the vehicle, as when on a trip,reglstered, this latter being effected at the window 4 through themedium of a suitable and approved type of odometer mechanism'. A

cover carryin a crystal is engaged over the.

face side of t e speedometer, the same being herein indicated for thepurpose of convenience by the numeral 5 and having a lateral extension 6formed on one side thereof ro vided with an opening through whic a pushbutton 7 is slidably received, the purpose of which will be subsequentlydescribed. In thisconnection, it is to be understood that the,speedometer mechanism together with the odometer mechanism thereincontained may be supported or arranged at any desired osition upon amotnrdriven vehicle, it be- 1ng the now prevalent custom to arrange suchdevices upon the so-termed instrument board of an equipped vehicle.

The odometer mechanism provided for the total mileage indicating meansand the trip mileage registering means is, as usual, supupon a suitableframe within the ousing 1, a ortion of whichv is herein shown andindicated bythe numeral 8. In this connection, since the invention isconcerned only with that 'odometer mechanism associated with the window4, 4to wit, on

vtl'e trip meter of the device, I will refer hereinafter only to thatmechanism. Likewise, it 1s to be understood that while'such odometer ortrip meter mechanism is herein describeclas bein associated'with aspeedometer and with ot er odometer mechanism for recording the totalmileage traversed byN an equip ed vehicle, such tri pieter may be competely disassociated t erefrom and likewise, may be, in some instances,advantageously employed or associated with various other forms ofmechanism.

The trip mileage re 'stering meter, hereinafter termed the trip metermay be stated to comprise a plurality of juxtaposed numeral carryingwheels/9, 1() and 11, each of which are provided with appropriate hubportions 12 loosely mounted for rotary movementupon the'shaft 13 mountedfor sliding movement in suitable bearings provided therefor in adjacentportions of the sup-- porting frame 8 aforesaid; a -portion of the shaft13 being extended through an opening formed in an adjacent portion ofthe housing 1 to a point exteriorly thereof as indicated in the Figure2, while the inner end of the shaft is slidably received in a pocketedbracket 14 having an expansion coil spring 15 interposed between thebottom of the pocket and the adjacent end of said shaft 13 whereby theshaft will be normally and yieldably retained 1n its outermost'orextended position, that is, that position as is shown in Figure 2,wherein the outer end of such shaft is extended for a distance beyondthe adjacent sidewall of the housing 1. c

Each of the numeral carrying Wheels have numerals ranging from v0 to 9disposed in equally spaced relation about the peripherial surfacesthereof as designated by the numer! sume their zero indicating positionsand with l continued operation, eEect a further registering of the .tripmileage. The numeral carrying wheels, also, in addition to being looselymounted for rotation upon the shaft 13, are capableof limited slidingmovement thereon and t this end, an abutment pin 17 is passedthrough aportion of the shaft 13 in proximity 'to one side of the numeralcarrying wheel 9 while the adjacent faces of the hub portions. ofthenumeral carrying wheels 10 and 11 are formed with recesses 18receiving the opposed end of a coil spring 19 therein, such sprigg beingengaged or coiled about the adjacent portion of the shaft 13 andexerting outward pressures upon those portions of 'the numeral carryingascertain wheels 10 and 11 engaged by the outermost convolutionsthereof. dLikewise, the hub portion of the numeral carrying wheel 11 isformed with a transversely disposed keyway 20 adapted to have a key 21carried upon an adjacent portion' of the shaft 13 slidably receivedtherein, thus effecting a lined connection as between said, sha 13 andthe hub portion of the numeral carrying lvvheelll.

In order that rotary movenent may be transmitted to the various numeralcarrying wheels 9, 10 and 11 rotatably mounted upon the shaft 13, a'driving Vshaft`22 is extended adjacent end portion of the shaft 13.Thus,

it will be understood that with rotation of tion will be directed thedriving shaft 22, from suitable power transmitting mechanlsmv connectionto the vehicle wheels, transmission etc., rotary mofroml the pinion 23to the gears 24 and then by wa splined connection with the hub o thenulneral carrying wheel 11 to said wheel.

` Upon that portion ofthe driving-shaft 22 mounted in the oppositelydisposed portions ofthe frame 8 carrying the trip mcter, intermediategears 25 are loosely mounted, these gears teeth thereof, that is, thealternately arranged teeth thereof of Vless width than the other, as isshown in theFigures 4 and 5. Sliding movement of the gears 25 on theshaft 22 is permitted to certain limits, these limits being governed bythe forming of ears, or bosses by to limit such slidingmovement of thegears. In this connection, it. is tobe noted that the gears 25 adjacentthe numeral caras shown.

Thus far, it will be seen that I have pro- "vided a mechanism forregistering mileage traversed by a vehicle upon the so-called tripm'eter. Inorder that the numeral carrying Wheels of this trip meter may,when desired, be immediatelyl returned to their initial starting or zeroindicating positions, whereas they tripmeter may be reset for a newregistering operation, I arrange within each ofthe shell like numeralcarrying wheels, 9, 10 and 11, semicircular armatures generallyindicated in the drawings by the numeral 30. These armatures arepreferably formed of soft iron or mild steel andfhave thickened portions31 therein intermediate their ends as is clearly indicated in the Figure9, the opposite ends or leg portions of the armatures being of,unequallengths as respectively .indieatedat this time by the numerals 32 and33, the numeral 32 indicating the shorter leg portion while the numeral3,3 indicates the other. The armatures may, if desired, be held withfrictional engagement within the shell like portions of the variousnumeral carrying wheels. 9, lOland 11, or if desired, they may besecured to the adiacent ortions of faces osuch wheels by suitable means,common in the art. In` this connection, it is of the l constitutedhaving certain of the 26 upon portions of the shaft and thusconstituting eifectualstops where! and automatically rotated,ltransmitting,

ythe inner peripheral surpertinent to note that the widened portions 3lof the armatures are of widthsso as to li slightly within the outermargin portions of 'their respective numeral carrying wheels in themanner as 'indicated in the Figure 5. An electromagnet' 34 is fixedlysupported in proximitg to one side of the trip meter y the numeralcarryingiwheels 9, l0 and llland has the cores thereof provided withwindings r`and formed with an arcuately curved surface 35, correspondingto the surfaces of the segment-a1 armatures 30, as is indicated in theFigure 7. The opposite sides of this electromagnet are connected toconductors 36 and 37, the latter' being electrically connected to asuitable,

contact 38 while the former is extended into engagement with one side ofa suitable force of electrical energy 39. Conductor 40 is eX- tendedfrom the opposite side of this source ot electrical energy intoengagement with a hell crank lever 4l, the angle portion of which yissuitably mounted in bear-ing brackets 42 while a coil spring has one endof the same engaged therewith in o rder that that end of the sameadjacent the contact portion 38 will be normally maintained dis engaged'therefrom in the manner indicated in the Figures 2 4and 3', Theremaining eX- tremity ofr this lever 41 is pivotally conv nested to thepush button 7, hereinbefore described, while an intermediate portion ofthe longer side of said lever is formed with a widened portion 43adapted to have bearing upon the adjacent and extended end of the shaft13 whereby to impart, attimes, an inward thrust thereto against thetension of the coil springs 15 and 19.y

The operation of the improved trip meter returning means may be statedas follows: v Assuming that the various numeral carrying wheels 9,10andI 11 are in their,` initial starting or zero indicating position with.respect to the window 4f, upon transmission .of rotary l.motion to thedriving shaft 22,`

such motion will be conveyed to the pinion 23 and `gear 24 to theslidably mounted shaft 13 and then through the' splined connection tothe numeral carrying wheels 11, whereupon said wheels will becontinuously thereby, a step by step rotary motion to the adjacent gears25 when the @gear tooth receiving pocket upon the inner face of saidwheel 11 engaged with the adjacent teethl of said gear 25. Step by steprotary motion fro'm the gear 25 will in turn, be transmitted through theadjacent numeral carrying wheel 10 by reason Iof the fact that thetoothgcarrying pockets 29 thereupon are normally enmeshed with theopposite sides of the teeth of this particular gear. Thus, it will `beunderstood that the numeral carrying wheels 11 and 1Q will be rotated soas to successively display the numerals" 16 thereuponfbefore the 'window 4. With the transmission of step by step motion to the numeralcarrying wheels 10, the single gear tooth engagingY through the gearteeth receiving pocket 29 formedI upon the adjacent face thereof inorder that the numerals 16 upon this particular face will besuccessively passed before the window 4 in order that the mileagetraversed by the equipped vehicle will be accurately registered upon thetrip meter. Should it now become necessary or desirable to reset thenumeral carrying wheels of the tri meter, that is, return the same totheir initial starting or zero indicating positions, the button 7 ispushed inwardly, thereby rocking the bell crank lever 41 and causing theangularly opposite side of the sam'e to be brought into engagement withthe extended end of the pliable shaft 13 and the contact point 38.y Asthe widened portion 43 of the lever engaging the extended end of thedriven 'shaft 13, said shaft will be forced inwardly against the tensionof the spring 15, the key'21 sliding through the keyway 20 in the hubportion of the numeral carrying wheel 11 whilethe spring 19 interposedbetween the wheels' 10 and 11 will be of a tension sulicient to impartan inward thrust to the wheel 10 sliding into position as shown inFigure 5. Simultaneously, the numeral carrying Wheel 9 will be slid tothat position as is 'also shown in the Figure 5 in that the .abutmentpin 17 will engage with the adjacent frame thereof. Likewise, the gear24 will be simultaneously moved with the shaft 13 and disengaged fromthe pinion 23V upon the driving shaft 22, thereby disconnecting thedriven shaft 13 from the driving shaft 22 and rendering it possible forsaid driven n shaft toy rotates'freely without any interferencewhatsoever from the driving shaft. VVlth` the numeral carryin 'Wheels 9and 10 in positions as shown in series of gear teeth receiving pockets29 on certain of 'the adjacent faces'will be Vdisenv `ons moving of thenumeral carrying wheels 9, 10 and 11 Vto disengaged positions, withrespect to each other, the electromagnet 34 will be energized in thatthe bell crank lever will have the free end thereof engaged igure 5, itwill be understood that thecircularly disposed' with the electricalcontact 38, thus completing electrical circuit through the coils of 'theelectromagnet. The electromagnet being thus magnetized or energized,will serve to attract the widened portions 31 of the various armatures3() to position directly adjacent or in coaxial alignment with the corethereof, as for example, the posiltion vindicated in the Figure 8. Inthis connection, itv will be understood that because of the widening ofthe intermediate portions of, the armaturesas indicated at 31, suchwidened poltion will be attracted y to a greater extent, through theiniiuences of the resultant magnetic flux. In arranging the armatures3() within their respective numeral carrying Wheels 9, 10 and 11, thewidest portions 31 thereof are so posil tioned with respect to thenumerals upon their peripheral surfaces that the zero numerals willappear before the window 4 with attraction of said widest portions 31 tothat position as indicated in Figure 8. Thus. it will be understood thatwith magnetizingofithe electromagnet 34, the same will serve toautomatically influence and re- .turn the numeral carrying wheels 9, 10and 11 to their initial starting or zerov indicating positions, withrespect to the said win-i dow 4. At this point, it is also of interestto note that because of the forming of legs 32 and 33 of unequal lengthupon opposite sides of the widest portions 31 of the armature 30, saidwidest portions will at all times be positively` prevented from assumingpositions whereat they will have the force of the magnetic ux from themagnetic resetting means (the electromagnet 24) equally applied to theopposite portions thereof. This, should it occur, would result in theretention of the widened portions 31 of the armatures 30 and byconsequence, the various numeral carrying wheels 9, 10 and 11, in whatmay be aptly kdescribed as dead center7 positions, inasmuch as theequally applied portion of the magneticfield upon the opposite sides ofthe armatures would be counter balanced 'and rotation could nottherefore be ef.

fected. To thecontrary, by forming the I leg portions 32 and 33 ofunequallength,

it will be understood that the armatures,I

and by consequence. their respective numeral carrying wheels will have amagnetic force offgreater intensity applied to certain of their sidesand accordingly, will readily respond to those rotative forces directedthereto in order thatthey may be respectively returnedto lthe zeroindicating or initial positions',4 as is shown in the Fig- VIn thisreturn or resetting ofthe numeral carrying wheels of the trip meter toinitial starting or zero indicating positions, the pushbutton 7 isdisengaged by the vehicle magnet'is 'thus de-ener ized whilethejextended' end of the slida le driven shaft 13 is disengaged, hencepermitting this shaft ,to return under influence of the expansible coilspring l5 to its normal position, whereat the gear 24 will re-engage thepinion 23; the numeral carrying wheels 9, lO and 1l moved to thosepositions as indicated in the vFigure 4, and, the gear wheels 2,5reengaged or arranged in position to be engaged with the tooth receivingpockets formed upon the adjacent faces of their respective nu-` meralcarrying wheels. At this time, 'coniiection of the trip meter will bere-established for an essential mileage trip registerinfoperation. c

tManifestly, the construction shown is capable of considerablemodification and ysuch modification as is within the scope of the.

appended claims, I consider within the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A resetting device for odometers, comprising in combination with aplurality of numeral carrying and registering Wheels, semi-circulararmatures carried within each of .said Wheels adjacent their innerperipherial portions and decreasing in cross sectional area toward eachend, and electromagnetic kmeans cooperatively associated with saidarmatures, imparting rotary motion tothe same and to their respectivewheels, for returning said wheels to zero indicating positions.

2../A resetting device for odometers, comprising in combination with' aplurality of numeral carrying 'and registering wheels, armaturesarranged Within each of said wheels adjacent their inner peripheralsurfaces, arms extending circumferentially different distances from theopposite ends of the armature vportions of said armaturesbeing widened,electromagnetic means cooperatively associated with said armatures andadapted, at times, to impart rotary motion thereto, and to theirrespective wheels for returning suchwheels to zero indicating positions.f

3. A resetting device for numeral carrying and registerin members,ali-'armature received and carried byeeach member, portions of saidarmatures widened, electroma eticl means cooperatively associated witsaid armatures adapted, at times, to

. disengageable means,

impart motion to the same and their registering inembers forreturning-the latter to their respective zero indicating positions, andthe ends of each armature being of unequal lengtli and of less Widththan the widcned portions thereof substantially as and -for the purposespecified.

4. An odometer mechanism having a plurality of numeral carrying wheelsand disengageable means for driving the wheels, of armatures arranged onthe inner circumferential faces of thev wheels, said armatures having arelatively wide medial portion, tapered arms extending from the oppositeends of the said medial portion, and of different lengths,E anelectromagnet normally positioned adjacent the peripheries of saidwheels, and a common control lever for actuating the disengageable Wheeldrive means and effecting energization'of the magnet.

5. A resetting device for odometers comprising in combination numeralcarrying wheels, magnetic means for returning said wheels to their zeropositions, a switch included in said magnetic means, a lever adapted attimes to actuate said switch and disengageable means, and a push buttonconnected to said lever whereby the latter may be collectively operated.

6. A resetting device for odometers comprising in combination numeralcarrying and registering wheels, disengageable means for driving thewheels including a projectin shaft, magnetic means for returning saiwheels to'their zero position when the Wheels are disengaged from thedriving means, a switch included in said magnetic means, a bell cranklever adapted at times to-enga e said switch and the projectingsha'ft ofsaid and a push button pivotally connected to `said lever whereby saidwheel disengageable means and said magnetic means may be jointlycontrolled.

A resetting device for odometers comprising in combination numeralcarrying andregistering wheels,

means for imparting rotary motion to said wheels whereby they at timesmay be returned to their zero positions,

and means whereby said wheels will be caused to move by their respectivedead centers when said means for imparting -rotary motion to said wheelsis brought into operation.

In witness whereof I have hereuntoset my hand. A

ALBERIV` LYMAN COX.

